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Jul 29, 2013

When ever some one talks about Kundalini, Tantric or Cakra’s, an image appears of wild and lurid psycho spiritual rituals and sexual forms that even most imaginative sex industry will find hard to replicate. But in our scriptures, this is not fiction but a science that was developed from the beginning. Starting from Laya yoga, transforming into a defined practice, that is aimed at attaining higher state of living, through inner search and meditation. Kundalini meditation, in my opinion, is what westerners call now as ‘Psycho-analysis’ with steps to really know ‘Who Am I”.

In search for something that shares my views about Kundalini, I came across C GJung’s lecture of 1930 on the subject which I think is quite an interesting way to look at it from a Western point of view. So here you are, with some of the thoughts that I liked from the book. Hope you will enjoy it. If you would like to know more about my own thoughts on the subject, leave me a comment, or connect with me at various places like Google+ or Twitter @VerseEveryDay.

As early as 1912, in Transformation and Symbols of the Libido, Jung provided psychological interpretations of passages in the Upanishads and the Rig Veda. Jung claimed that “important parallels with yoga [and analytical psychology] have come to light, especially with Kundalini yoga and the symbolism of tantric yoga, Lamaism, and Taoistic yoga in China. These forms of yoga with their rich symbolism afford me invaluable comparative material for the interpretation of the collective unconscious.” His definition of yoga was a psychological one: “Yoga was originally a natural process of introversion. . . . Such introversions lead to characteristic inner processes of personality changes.

Jung speciﬁed his psychological understanding of tantric yoga as follows: Indian philosophy is namely the interpretation given to the precise condition of the non-ego, which affects our personal psychology, however independent from us it remains. It sees the aim of human development as bringing about an approach to and connection between the speciﬁc nature of the non-ego and the conscious ego.

Jung’s aim was to elucidate the psychological meaning of spontaneous symbolism that resembled that of Kundalini yoga.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF KUNDALINI YOGA By C G Jung.

Cakras symbolize highly complex psychic facts which at the present moment we could not possibly express except in images. The cakras are therefore of great value to us because they represent a real effort to give a symbolic theory of the psyche. The psyche is something so highly complicated, so vast in extent, and so rich in elements unknown to us, and its aspects overlap and interweave with one another in such an amazing degree, that we always turn to symbols in order to try to represent what we know about it.

Any theory about it would be premature because it would become entangled in particularities and would lose sight of the totality we set out to envisage.

You have seen from my attempt at an analysis of the cakras how difficult it is to reach their content, and with what complex conditions we have to deal when we are studying not just consciousness but the totality of the psyche. The cakras, then, become a valuable guide for us in this obscure field because the East, and India especially, has always tried to understand the psyche as a whole. It has an intuition of the self, and therefore it sees the ego and consciousness as only more or less unessential parts of the self.

The spiritual point of view of India in general is a standpoint of this sort. Hindus do not begin as we do to explain the world by taking the hydrogen atom as the starting point, nor do they describe the evolution of mankind or of the individual from lower to higher, from deep unconsciousness to the highest consciousness. They do not see humanity under the Sthula aspect. They speak only of the sukshma aspect and therefore say:

“In the beginning was the one brahman without a second. It is the one indubitable reality, being and not-being.”4 They begin in sahasrara; they speak the language of the gods and think of man from above down, taking him from the Sukshama or para aspect. Inner experience is to them revelation; they would never say about this experience “I thought it.”

Looked at from the sth.la aspect the collective culture of India really is in Muladhara, whereas ours has reached anahata. But the Indian concept of life understands humanity under the sukshma aspect, and looked at from that standpoint everything becomes completely reversed. Our personal consciousness can indeed be located in anhata or even in ajana, but nonetheless our psychic situation as a whole is undoubtedly in Muladhara.

We now understand that the diving into the water and the enduring of the flames is not a descent, not a fall into the lower levels, but an ascent. It is a development beyond the conscious ego, an experience of the personal way into the suprapersonal—a widening of the psychic horizons of the individual so as to include what is common to all mankind. When we assimilate the collective unconscious we are not dissolving but creating it.

And as long as the ego is identified with consciousness, it is caught up in this world, the world of the Muladhara cakra.

The symbols of the cakra, then, afford us a standpoint that extends beyond the conscious. They are intuitions about the psyche as a whole, about its various conditions and possibilities. They symbolize the psyche from a cosmic standpoint. It is as if a super consciousness, an all-embracing divine consciousness, surveyed the psyche from above.

LECTURE 1 (12 October 1932)

Kundalini

Expressed in psychological terms, that would mean that you can approach the unconscious in only one way,

namely, by a purified mind, by a right attitude, and by the grace of heaven, which is the Kundalini. Something in you, an urge in you, must lead you to it. If that does not exist, then it is only artificial. So there must be something peculiar in you, a leading spark, some incentive that forces you on through the water and toward the next center. And that is the Kundalini, something absolutely unrecognizable, which can show, say, as fear, as a neurosis, or apparently also as vivid interest; but it must be something which is superior to your will.

Of course the idea of an impersonal, psychical experience is very strange to us, and it is exceedingly difficult to accept such a thing, be-cause we are so imbued with the fact that our unconscious is our own— my unconscious, his unconscious, her unconscious—and our prejudice is so strong that we have the greatest trouble disidentifying.

1st Cakra: Muldhara

Here, of course, in this conscious world where we are all reasonable and respectable people, adapted individuals as one says. We are in our roots right in this world.. And then the self is asleep, which means that all things concerning the gods are asleep.

It is a place where mankind is a victim of impulses, instincts, unconsciousness, of participation mystique, where we are in a dark and unconscious place. We are hapless victims of circumstances; our reason practically can do very little.

Only at times have we an inkling of the next cakra. Something works in certain people on Sunday mornings, or perhaps one day in the year, say Good Friday—they feel a gentle urge to go to church.

We must realize, or take into consideration at least, that Muladhara is here, the life of this earth, and here the god is asleep. And then you go to … the unconscious, and that is understood to be a higher condition than before, because there you approach another kind of life. And you move there only through the Kundalini that has been aroused.

That the Hindu commentaries put the conscious world inside the body is to us a very astonishing fact. According to their idea Muladhara is a transitory thing, the sprouting condition in which things begin.

2nd Cakra: Svadhisthana

So in crossing from Muladhara to Svadhisthana, the power that has nourished you hitherto shows now an entirely different quality: what is the elephant on the surface of the world is the leviathan in the depths. But it is one and the same animal: the power that forces you into consciousness and that sustains you in your conscious world proves to be the worst enemy when you come to the next center. For there you are really going out of this world, and everything that makes you cling to it is your worst enemy. The greatest blessing in this world is the greatest curse in the unconscious.

LECTURE 2 (19 October 1932)

3RD Cakra: Manipura

Now this third center, the center of emotions, is localized in the plexus solaris, or the center of the abdomen. I have told you that my first discovery about the Kundalini yoga was that these cakras really are concerned with what are called psychical localizations. This center then would be the first psychical localization that is within our conscious psychical experience

Now, in manipura you have reached an upper layer where there comes a definite change.9 The bodily localization of this cakra under the diaphragm is the symbol for the peculiar change that now takes place.

So this third center is rightly called the fullness of jewels. It is the great wealth of the sun, the never-ending abundance of divine power to which man attains through baptism.

4th Cakra: Anahata

In anahata you behold the purusha, a small figure that is the divine self, namely, that which is not identical with mere causality, mere nature, a mere release of energy that runs down blindly with no purpose.

Through Manipura he is in the womb of nature, extraordinarily automatic; it is merely a process. But in anahata a new thing comes up, the possibility of lifting himself above the emotional happenings and beholding them. He discovers the purusha in his heart, … In the center of anahata there is again jiva in the form of the linga, and the small flame means the first germlike appearance of the self.

So anahata is really the center where psychical things begin, the recognition of values and ideas. When man has reached that level in civilization or in his individual development one could say he was in anahata, and there he gets the first inkling of the power and substantiality, or the real existence, of psychical things.

You see, that is a picture of psychical existence over or beyond the manipura form. It is nothing but a thought—nothing has changed in the visible world; not one atom is in a different place from before. But one thing has changed: the psychical substance has entered the game. You see, a mere thought, or almost an indescribable feeling, a psychical fact, changes his whole situation, his whole life, and he can step across to anahata, to the world where psychical things begin.

But to cross from anahata to vishuddha one should unlearn all that. One should even admit that all one’s psychical facts have nothing to do with material facts. For instance, the anger which you feel for somebody or something, no matter how justified it is, is not caused by those external things. It is a phenomenon all by itself.

LECTURE 3 (26 October 1932)

Each of the four lower centers has an element belonging to it— Muladhara, the earth, svvdhisthana, the water, then comes fire in manipura, and finally air in anahata. So one can see the whole thing as a sort of transformation of elements, with the increase of volatility— of volatile substance.

5th Cakra: Vishudha

In Vishuddha center one reaches a sphere of abstraction. There one steps beyond the empirical world, as it were, and lands in a world of concepts.

If you have reached that stage, you begin to leave anvhata, because you have succeeded in dissolving the absolute union of material external facts with internal or psychical facts. You begin to consider the game of the world as your game, the people that appear outside as exponents of your psychical condition. Whatever befalls you, whatever experience or adventure you have in the external world, is your own experience.

6Th Cakra: AJNA

God that has been dormant in Muladhara is here fully awake, the only reality; and therefore this center has been called the condition in which one unites with jiva. One could say it was the center of the unio mystica with the power of God, meaning that absolute reality where one is nothing but psychic reality, yet confronted with the psychic reality that one is not. And that is God

And yet there is another psyche, a counterpart to your psychical reality, the non-ego reality, the thing that is not even to be called self, and you know that you are going to disappear into it. The ego disappears completely; the psychical is no longer a content in us, but we become contents of it.

Therefore it is rather bold to speak of the sixth cakra,10 which is naturally completely beyond our reach, because we have not even arrived at vishuddha. But since we have that symbolism we can at least construct something theoretical about it.

And yet there is another psyche, a counterpart to your psychical reality, the non-ego reality, the thing that is not even to be called self, and you know that you are going to disappear into it. The ego disappears completely; the psychical is no longer a content in us, but we become contents of it. You see that this condition in which the white elephant has disappeared into the self is almost unimaginable. He is no longer perceptible even in his strength because he is no longer against you. You are absolutely identical with him. You are not even dreaming of doing anything other than what the force is demanding, and the force is not demanding it since you are already doing it—since you are the force. And the force returns to the origin, God.

7th Cakra: Sahasrara

To speak about the lotus of the thousand petals above, the sahasrara center is quite superfluous because that is merely a philosophical concept with no substance to us whatever; it is beyond any possible experience. In Ajna there is still the experience of the self that is apparently different from the object, God. But in sahasrara one understands that it is not different, and so the next conclusion would be that there is no object, no God, nothing but brahman.

There is no experience because it is one, it is without a second. It is dormant, it is not, and therefore it is nirvana. This is an entirely philosophical concept, a mere logical conclusion from the premises before. It is without practical value for us.

Some interesting thoughts from his Q & A in the seminar

Mrs. Sawyer: I would like to ask you if the Eastern idea of going up through the cakras means that each time you have reached a new center you have to return to Muladhara?

Dr. Jung: As long as you live you are in Muladhara naturally. It is quite self-evident that you cannot always live in meditation, or in a trance condition. You have to go about in this world; you have to be conscious and let the gods sleep.

Mrs. Sawyer: Yes, but you could think of it in two ways: as doing all these things together, or as making a trip up and down.

Dr. Jung: The cakra symbolism has the same meaning that is expressed in our metaphors of the night sea-journey, or climbing a sacred mountain, or initiation. It is really a continuous development. It is not leaping up and down, for what you have arrived at is never lost.

And if you get through the water and into the fire of passion, you never can really turn back, because you cannot lose the connection with your passion that you have gained in manipura.

Mrs. Crowley: Do you think the idea is to experience those cakras, which one has gone through, simultaneously?

Dr. Jung: Certainly. As I told you, in our actual historical psychological development we have about reached anahata and from there we can experience Muladhara, and all the subsequent centers of the past, by knowledge of records, and tradition, and also through our unconscious. Suppose somebody reached the ajna center, the state of complete consciousness, not only self-consciousness. That would be an exceedingly extended consciousness which includes everything—energy itself—a consciousness which knows not only “That is Thou” but more than that—every tree, every stone, every breath of air, every rat’s tail—all that is yourself; there is nothing that is not yourself. In such an extended consciousness all the cakras would be simultaneously experienced, because it is the highest state of consciousness, and it would not be the highest if it did not include all the former experiences.

LECTURE 4 (2 November 1932)

Mrs. Baynes: What does Professor Hauer mean by the metaphysical aspect?

Dr. Jung: That again is the s.k.ma aspect. We can speak of it only in symbols. Such symbols, for instance, are water and fire, the metabasis into the unconscious.

Mrs. Crowley: Is there a connection between the sa.skvra and the creative principle? And is the puer aeternus related to them?

Dr. Jung: The samskara can be compared to Muladhara, for they are the unconscious conditions in which we live. The samskara are inherited germs, we might say—unconscious determinants, preexisting qualities of things to be, life in the roots. But the puer aeternus is the sprout that buds from the roots, the attempt at synthesis and at a release from Muladhara. Only by synthesizing the preexisting conditions can we be freed from them.

Mrs. Crowley: Is there any connection between citta and Kundalini?

Dr. Jung: Citta is the conscious and unconscious psychic field, collective mentality, the sphere in which the phenomenon of Kundalini takes place. Citta is simply our organ of knowledge, the empirical ego into whose sphere Kundalini breaks. Kundalini in essence is quite different from citta. Therefore her sudden appearance is the coming-up of an element absolutely strange to citta. If she were not entirely different from citta she could not be perceived.

Jul 14, 2013

Celebrating 250,000 hits and more on my blog with 390 followers with my 28th Editions of Shadow Dancing With Mind. I am grateful for the loyal friends and critics who made my blogging journey all the more worthwhile. Their thoughts and encouragement that kept me going on and on…

In this edition, you will find many interesting thoughts, stories and poetry but there is something that touched me to the core… The 10 Bomb Blasts in Bodh Gaya which shattered the peace of the most serene temples of Buddhism, the place where Buddha himself attained peace…

Anyhow, here you go with topics in this 28th Edition, if you like something, please click to read more, I am sure you will not be disappointed…

Recently I have been wondering why there are not many comments on my blog post. Started having doubts on my writing capabilities and content that I am sharing with my followers. After digging a little deeper I found that though there are not many comments but my hit rate on the posts are going up steadily. From 100 per day to 1000’s (An average of 500 per day, and recently crossed 250,000 hits), its been going upwards… so what do you think is happening?

As early as 1912, in Transformation and Symbols of the Libido, Jung provided psychological interpretations of passages in the Upanishads and the Rig Veda.

"Indian philosophy is namely the interpretation given to the precise condition of the non-ego, which affects our personal psychology, however independent from us it remains. It sees the aim of human development as bringing about an approach to and connection between the speciﬁc nature of the non- ego and the conscious ego. Tantra yoga then gives a representation of the condition and the developmental phases of this impersonality, as it itself in its own way produces the light of a higher supra-personal consciousness."

Bertrand Russel said once for Tagore, “I regret I cannot agree with Tagore. His talk about the infinite is vague nonsense. The sort of language that is admired by many Indians unfortunately does not, in fact, mean anything at all.” And I believe … Scientists and logicians are handicapped by the limitations of sense perception. I am happy that someone like Einstein has the humility to accept it and some like Stephen Hawking (He went on to famously proclaim, “God Does Not Exist”)feel that what they know, is absolute truth.

A book by Ma Anand Sheela (Sheela Ambalal Patel) Secretary of Osho (He was called Bhagwan Rajneesh by his disciples) from 1981-85, about her life and experiences with Osho, and account of, as she said in the book, “building an entire commune in Oregon and how in fit of rage, Osho destroyed it, after I resigned from his services in the year 1985.” Personally I feel that "Don't Kill Him" is about her side of the story after being accused of bio-terror etc even by OSHO himself…

An interesting story (Novella) that I recently read about life. A girl's desires and feelings, before and after marriage to a much older person so beautifully envisaged by Tolstoy. His amazing description of young girls emotions, his take on the feelings of young and then matured person in the ways of the world of Russian Social life, before and after marriage, is great and to me, looks quite truthful.Though never married, it seems Tolstoy wrote ‘Family Happiness’ – which is about marriage, to prove to himself that their marriage would not have been successful…

Testament Betrayed is a book which brings out the times that we live in and how we become what we are. A collection of essays which brings out arrays of ideas in a coherent narrative. For the writer’s its kind of challenge that Milan Kundera throws to come out of the set thought pattern and travel out of one’s comfort zone to explore spaces that sometimes are dark, filled with unknown doubts but sometimes brings out the light as at the end of tunnel. If you are a serious aspiring author, then you must read this book.

Woke up to the sounds of Bomb blast’s this Sunday morning and looked up images from my last visit to Bodh Gaya. The images took on the shadows of darkness as the Peaceful serene atmosphere of Buddha’s place of enlightenment lay shattered…

Read the collaborative efforts of dozes of poets from across the world. And if you write, love collaborative writing, enthusiast of poetry and enjoy writing short verse like Haiku, Tanka, Renga, Renshi etc, then Haiku Tea sessions are for you... Click here to join in for the Session VII (which will start from 15th July…)

Hope you will enjoy this edition... look forward to your comments and visit to the next Edition... please click on the “Join this Site” button on the right hand side top corner to follow my posts on this blog... I will be grateful.

Jul 13, 2013

A book by Ma Anand Sheela (Sheela Ambalal Patel) Secretary of Osho (He was called Bhagwan Rajneesh by his disciples) from 1981-85, about her life and experiences with Osho, and account of, as she said in the book, “building an entire commune in Oregon and how in fit of rage, Osho destroyed it, after I resigned from his services in the year 1985.”

Personally I feel that "Don't Kill Him" is about her side of the story after being accused of bio-terror etc even by OSHO himself. Though disturbed and dis-oriented, Ma Anand Sheela, had enough of love left for OSHO, to still call him as Bhagwan, but I would have believed her love more, if she could have talked more about the love she felt for him, instead of just throwing a statement. Internet has not been favorable to her and followers of Osho, don't like her, but I think this book at least gives a different perspective and personally I do believe and feel some of the things that she said to be true. I was talking to one of the close person of Osho and his younger brother, kind of family, and he raised a doubt why now after decades, she wrote this account. And goes on to answer, "Because, she was making up a convincing story, to bring down a spiritual and enlightened being who as God for his followers". Well that might be the case, but for me, I feel disconnected with any one who as a human being liked and allowed his disciples to call one self as GOD because then the person is not enlightened enough to realize the divinity within. Why does one need reinforcing of the idea of “Aham Brahamasmi” (I Am Brahma – God) from external sources. But this post is not about me and my thoughts but about the book and Anand Sheela’s thoughts.

She says in the book, “I saw Bhagwan extremely charismatic, brilliant, inspiring, powerful, and loving, and I also saw him being ridiculously manipulative, vengeful, self-serving and hurtful. He disregarded all laws, moralities, ethics, and legalities of every community, society, and nation because he wanted to create a society of his own vision with its own laws and rules.”

And as in the end, Anand Sheela brings out the final idea of the book, which makes the title, that people and the followers are Killing Osho by the censorship and rituals that are totally against his teachings. She says, “His discourses as Osho were divine, even if some of his actions as a fallible human being were flowed. … These empty rituals kill him. Please stop them. His soul left his body in 1990. Now, please don’t kill him.”

A Brief Biography – Ma Anand Sheela:

Ma Anand Sheela, (born as Sheela Ambalal Patel on 28 December 1949; also known as Sheela Silverman and Sheela Birnstiel) is a former follower, secretary and spokeswoman for the Indian mystic and guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (also known as "Osho"). As the main planner of the 1984 Rajneeshee bio-terror attack, she served twenty-nine months in prison for assault, attempted murder, telephone tapping, immigration fraud and product tampering.

From 1981 to 1985, Sheela was Osho's personal secretary, and on 10 July 1981, she purchased the 64,000-acre (260 km2) Big Muddy Ranch to create the Rajneeshpuram, Oregon commune. She was the main manager and spokesperson, and known for her "acid tongue" as well as for toting a .357 Magnum handgun; she also created a Rajneeshpuram police force armed with Uzi sub-machine guns and a Jeep-mounted .30-caliber machine gun. It was under Sheela's influence that Rajneesh decided to travel to the United States and begin an ashram there.

(An interesting interview where Anand Sheela signs off with "Good luck to you and your pimps)

On 13 September 1985, Sheela fled the commune along with several other followers of Rajneesh. Two days later, the Bhagwan himself accused Sheela of arson, wiretapping, attempted murder, and mass poisonings.

In December 1988, Sheela was released for good behaviour after serving twenty-nine months of the 20-year sentence. After her release, Sheela moved to Switzerland where she started a new profession managing two nursing homes.

During my years with Bhagwan, I learned that the greatest of gurus can also be fallible human beings. I learned to separate their personality traits from their immense charisma and the power of their teachings.

His demands (for Rolls-Royces and expensive watches – he already had 96 Rolls and countless watches

I just took life as it offered itself to me. I did not claim anything, I did not complain, I was just grateful to be free again.

My home, where old and disabled people conveniently live together in a community and feel totally at home, is a model for the future. In our house nobody feels isolated or lonely. Everyone is surrounded by warmth and care… house like ours offers a warm and loving atmosphere.

Book Two:

First meeting… after coming back from USA…

I let myself fall into his arms, full of joy. He held me to his chest for some time. It seemed like eternity. Then he let go of me gently and held my hands. I put my head on his lap… I just sat there drowned in him, lost in him. I heard everything, yet I heard nothing. I was there and yet I was not there.

Through his new concept of Sannyas, he (Osho) wanted to encourage his Sannyasins to accept life while still pursuing their spiritual quest. Sannyas is no gradual development; it’s a quantum leap into trust. Sannyas is a lottery not a trade. Sannyas is willingness to blow out the candle of ego.

After moving to Poona, Bhagwan changed certain things within his organization. He took clearer direction. He made himself more exclusive and ensured that he appeared more mysterious.

An ashram exists around an enlightened master. Once the enlightened one is not there the ashram disappears. What is left then is only the organization, the skeleton. Master, the enlightened one is the soul of the ashram.

During early ‘70’s, group therapies used to play a major role in the psychology of the Western people. To them therapies seemed to be the answer to the dissatisfaction of modern man. The therapy groups were to help release the anger, hate, jealousy, sexual suppression, and other taboos that one learns and carries through life. Osho thought that once a person is free of these unpleasant feelings, one can move towards inward journey easily…. Sexuality, which was seen as the abuse of many sufferings, was one of the main topics in these therapies. … There was a lot going on in these groups. Some, in the excitement of the group and the enthusiasm to climb the ladder of enlightenment took part in violence and sexual encounter in groups. But always, the participation was absolutely voluntary.

Indians were not allowed to participate in therapy groups. Many questions were put to Osho and finally he gave

Osho Ashram in Pune

an official reason, “People from the West come from a very oppressive world. Their lifestyle is very different from an Indian’s. Their mind set is different. They need active therapies. Indians need more passive, quiet meditations…”. With this explanation the Indians thought they were more spiritually developed.

To have money meant to be able to be in the ashram and with Osho, and many of us were willing to become beggars rather than be separated from him. Some even decided to work as prostitutes.

Osho’s teachings did not preach any morality. This made it easy to overcome guilt in these matters…. Osho would often say that life as a prostitute can be important in the spiritual quest. He would say, “… prostitution can serve as a kind of meditations.

But Osho had no problem being the guru of the rich. He, in fact, carried this game to its very limit. He even said once about materialism: “I am not against materialism, because I know that only at the highest peak of materialism does religion happen.”

Waiting was not his (OSHO) thing, bureaucracy made him angry and irritated. Laws did not exist for him. He stood above them. To resolve these things was my job. I must say, that with some experience, I became an expert at it all.

According to Osho, the FBI was responsible for the Jonestown tragedy. He once told me, “These self-righteous people and politicians create situations in which weak people like the Reverend Jones commit suicide. We will fight against. Make that clear before the press…. If they touch even one of us, we will catch fifteen of them….”

From this incident (Vivek’s incident), I learned many lessons. Firstly, that Osho was a man with ordinary feelings. Secondly, that I must make sure that he was never cut off from the outside world due to any disaster. Third, even an enlightened one cannot get rid of a woman. The reality is that neither can a man can live with a woman, nor can he live without her…. .. ; in my eyes he was simply a handsome, intelligent and desirable man. I let him have his fun.

Osho was also the chief architect of our media strategy. He meticulously choreographed all my appearances in media. What would I say, how I should say it, when I should say it – everything was scripted by him.

Osho was a lion who could roar very loud. He was not afraid of either scandals or public opinion. Fact or fiction made no difference to him. He would think of an appropriate story and simply execute it. That’s why he also introduced such an ugly, dirty scandal into the world after I left him.

The censorship and ritual which are performed by the Sannyasins now after his death are totally against his life, death and teachings. His discourses as Osho were divine, even if some of his actions as a fallible human being were flowed. … These empty rituals kill him. Please stop them. His soul left his body in 1990. Now, please don’t kill him.

Jul 9, 2013

THOUGHTS THIS WEEK (TTW)__________________________Recently I have been wondering why there are not many comments on my blogpost. Started having doubts on my writing capabilities and content that I am sharing with my followers. After digging a little deeper I found that though there are not many comments but my hit rate on the posts are going up steadily. From 100 per day to 1000’s (An average of 500 per day, and recently crossed 250,000 hits), its been going upwards.

Actors promoting a serial based on Sherlock Holmes
At Bandra Band Stand Mumbai, India

So I decided to do a little research and found that I, myself, have not commented on the blogs that I like and read for quite some time. Digging a little deeper, I found out that I don’t comment there because mostly I do so on the Google Plus. If there is something that catches my eye, intrigues and interests me and its relevant to my readers, I end up sharing it with my friends on social media as well as commenting on the Google Plus, which is my primary source of information gathering. It’s a lot more easier and less time consuming for me to comment right there on Google Plus or any other social media platforms, from where I have picked up the blogpost, than actually commenting on the blog.

And that’s how, I think, that most of the people are feeling now…

I think commenting on the blog is slowly dying, because…

1) EASE: As most of the people share and promote their blogpost through various social media platforms, its easier and apt to comment there itself rather than logging on to the blogspot, wordpress and other blogging platforms etc to comment. This lets the person know that you did check out the blog post [even though some of us don’t..]. And its damn easy to ‘Like’, ‘Plus’ or ‘Tweet’on the social media platforms.

2) TROLL PROBLEM: Though various service providers of emails, has mastered the art of Anti-spam; but blog services has a long way to go. Infact trolls are getting smarter with genuine looking comments and its real pain to delete them one by one. Many of my friends have infact disabled the commenting on the blog post.

3) LARGER REACH: Its actually far more interactive to discuss on the social media with large audience than the blogposts as there are more niche crowd on the particular topic one is posting about.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

______________________

“Ignorance is not lack of knowledge, but knowing wrong things."

"Happiness is not in standing somewhere without a clue, but in knowing where and how to go. That knowledge, my friends, comes when you live in the present with awareness. And then remember to take the next step after every step”

- V.E.D

HAIKU OF THE WEEK

___________________

(In shadows of recent Bomb Blast at Bodh Gaya)

Went to that lonely

Temple again, Buddha smiled

Was looking for pain

The above image is from Bodh Gaya, where 7th July, 2013's 8 to 9 Bomb Blasts happened. If you like to walk with me to the serene Bodh Gaya, as it was before, click here...

YOU ARE VISITOR NUMBER...

WORLD'S TOP SPIRITUAL BLOG - 36TH RANK (2016)

SPOTLIGHT - PROMOTING NEW AUTHORS

Spotlight is my small effort to support upcoming authors in their effort to reach their readers. And yes, it is FREE, however to be featured in this section, you need to go through a selection process, please click here for details.

Writes Poetry, Haiku, Spiritual Fiction, most of the times about Spiritual and blissful living. He enjoys spiritual journeys across India / High on Himalayas or floating below in depths Ganges, on a self-exploration trip, all the while trying to work out that elusive enlightenment, which every one talks about but, most of the times, don't find.

... and he ends up writing about these experiences at his blog "Shadow Dancing With Mind", which is considered to be India's #1 Spiritual Blog (last three years) and has been listed #36 in top 50 spiritual blogs of the Planet this year.

MY BOOK - 1 OF 'THE MONK KEY' 3 PART SERIES

Songs of the Mist

SONGS OF THE MIST - An Introduction

"Many of us here yearn for something more in our life. Shashi has provided a spiritual release in his beautiful book, "Songs of the Mist". It’s unusual and thought provoking book. The book answers questions that we struggle to frame in our daily lives. Shashi’s descriptive beauty of the mystic nature of Himalayas interwoven with sufferings and the heartaches, and the struggle of each protagonist, provide eloquent and thought provoking read. Not a book to be browsed at glance and to reach books full potential demands commitment and investment of time to savor its subtlety and do grows." - Timeri N Murari (Famous Author, Script Writer and Journalist) speaking about “Songs of the Mist” at an evening of Art, Music and Writing organised by Apparao Galleries at The Hotel Leela Palace